Zind-Humbrecht Muscat 2015
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Suckling
James -
Spectator
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Spirits
Wine &
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Enjoy as an Aperitif or with shellfish or asparagus.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very subtle muscat with light apricots and hints of flowers. Medium to full body, some stones and spicy and bitter peaches. Oily texture but a fresh finish. Made from biodynamically grown grapes.
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Wine Spectator
There's good drive to this dry Muscat, with flavors of blood orange granita, apricot and basil layered with snappy acidity and stony minerality.
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Wine & Spirits
This is a fresh muscat with springtime scents of orange and forsythia. Its flavors deepen to meaty mushroom while the acidity tightens around the wine to keep it structured and upright. A firm, spicy white for cracked crab.
Other Vintages
2020-
Enthusiast
Wine
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Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
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Spectator
Wine
Certified Organic and Biodynamic.
While Muscat comes in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, still to sparkling and even fortified, it's safe to say it is always alluringly aromatic and delightful. The two most important versions are the noble, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, making wines of considerable quality and Muscat of Alexandria, thought to be a progeny of the former. Somm Secret—Pliny the Elder wrote in the 13th century of a sweet, perfumed grape variety so attractive to bees that he referred to it as uva apiana, or “grape of the bees.” Most likely, he was describing Muscat.
With its fairytale aesthetic, Germanic influence and strong emphasis on white wines, Alsace is one of France’s most unique viticultural regions. This hotly contested stretch of land running north to south on France’s northeastern border has spent much of its existence as German territory. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, it is one of the driest regions of France but enjoys a long and cool growing season. Autumn humidity facilitates the development of “noble rot” for the production of late-picked sweet wines, Vendange Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles.
The best wines of Alsace can be described as aromatic and honeyed, even when completely dry. The region’s “noble” varieties, the only ones permitted within Alsace’s 51 Grands Crus vineyards, are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris.
Riesling is Alsace’s main specialty. In its youth, Alsace Riesling is dry, fresh and floral, but develops complex mineral and flint character with age. Gewurztraminer is known for its signature spice and lychee aromatics, and is often utilized for late harvest wines. Pinot Gris is prized for its combination of crisp acidity and savory spice as well as ripe stone fruit flavors. Muscat, vinified dry, tastes of ripe green grapes and fresh rose petal.
Other varieties grown here include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir—the only red grape permitted in Alsace and mainly used for sparkling rosé known as Crémant d’Alsace. Most Alsace wines are single-varietal bottlings and unlike other French regions, are also labeled with the variety name.